Never-before-seen images of the Jodrell Bank Observatory have been released to the public ahead of the opening of a new £21.5 million visitor attraction.
The First Light Pavilion – which is part of the wider First Light Project, and is all about telling the stories of its pioneering scientists and opening up the inspirational history of the important Cheshire site – will showcase archives and artefacts, together with animations and projections, when it officially opens to the public this Saturday 4 June.
This major addition to the observatory will open up the inspiring history of the site by sharing the stories of its scientists, and its groundbreaking feats of science and engineering, as well as giving visitors the chance to experience a meteor shower, crawl into a black hole, or even see like a snake.
The building itself was an original idea developed by Jodrell Bank professors Teresa Anderson and Tim O’Brien, was designed by the award-winning architect HASSELL Studio, and takes the form of a grass-topped 76m-diameter dome.
It’s said to “cleverly mirror the shape and scale of the landmark Lovell Telescope”.
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Ahead of @JodrellBank’s First Light Pavilion opening this weekend, our Exec Director @Isabel_hunt710 has revealed a personal connection.
— National Lottery Heritage Fund (@HeritageFundUK) May 30, 2022
One such charming example is the story of Thomas ‘Barry’ Wade – the father of The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Executive Director, Isabel Hunt – who, having lived through WWII and then completed his National Service, put his civil engineering degree from Sheffield University to use at his first civilian job as a trainee engineer at Jodrell Bank from 1951-1952.
During his time on the site, Barry and his colleagues worked on prototype versions of the famous Lovell Telescope.
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Unseen images of the Jodrell Bank Observatory have been released to the public / Credit: Isabel Hunt
The unseen images, which have now been released, have been passed down from his working days and not only show Barry and his colleagues’ engineering skills, but also give an insight into what the Jodrell Bank site looked like at the time.
Speaking on the release of the unseen images, Isabel Hunt said: “When I joined The National Lottery Heritage Fund, I was really looking forward to making a difference for the UK’s heritage, but it was even more exciting to find out that one of our major investments at Jodrell Bank was intertwined with my very own family heritage.
“My father spoke very fondly of his time at Jodrell Bank.
“Along with all the other fascinating history being shared as part of the First Light Project, I am sure these stories will inspire the next generation of engineers.”
The images have been released ahead of the opening of a new £21.5 million visitor attraction / Credit: Isabel HuntThe pictures tell the story of Thomas ‘Barry’ Wade, who worked as a trainee engineer at Jodrell Bank from 1951-1952 / Credit: Isabel Hunt
Speaking ahead of the opening of the First Light Pavilion this weekend, Professor Anderson – Director at the Jodrell Bank Centre for Engagement – said: “After years of planning, we are thrilled to finally be able to announce the opening of First Light – a moment [that] will mark a whole new chapter for Jodrell Bank.
“We’re looking forward to welcoming our first visitors through the doors and in to this beautiful new space.”
The project has been made possible with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
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The National Lottery Heritage Fund awarded £12.5 million to the project “so that the site’s powerful human stories of curiosity, exploration, and discovery could be shared with the public”, according to chief executive Eilish McGuinness.
She added: “Jodrell Bank is truly a unique heritage site, of national and international importance, with an inspirational story of Britain’s role as a leader in the science of the exploration of the universe.”
You can find out more about the First Light Pavilion here.
Featured Image – Isabel Hunt
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Rúben Amorim outlines the three key things Manchester United need to work on
Danny Jones
Rúben Amorim has conducted his first full press conference as Manchester United manager and has outlined the three key things he wants to address when it comes to his new team.
Amorim officially joined Man United on Monday, 11 November after being given a ‘now or never’ which meant he had to leave his former club Sporting CP in the middle of the season.
Replacing Erik ten Hag, who was sacked less than 24 hours after a 2-1 defeat to West Ham and had overseen a run of bad results, the contract extension he was given in the summer ultimately proved obsolete and now the Portuguese head coach must lift his new side from a measly 13th in the table.
That being said, speaking to the media in his first full pre-match presser ahead of his maiden Premier League outing against Ipswich Town this weekend, Amorim has already highlighted three key areas in which he wants United to improve as a matter of priority.
"I truly believe that I'm the right guy in the right moment" 👊
Ruben Amorim says he does not think managing Manchester United is the impossible job.#MUFC#bbcfootball 🇵🇹
What did Amorim say in his first full Man United press conference?
Although the 39-year-old coach – who is only three years older than resurgent centre-back Johnny Evans – started off by assuring that his main focus at its core is to win the next match (and the one after that, as the football cliché goes), he boiled the current squad issues down to a troublesome trio.
In his eyes, a lot of it just comes down to pure physical effort.
Improve possession
First and foremost, Amorim was quick to point out that United “lose the ball too often” and simply have to retain it more throughout the 90 minutes.
Although they have enjoyed spells of greater control in games, their average possessions stats in the Premier League not only under ten Hag but Ole Gunnar Solskjær and even short-lived interim boss Ralf Rangnick never flirted too far above 50-53%.
While that might sound like the signs of nothing more than a well-contested game, the club need to be looking at much higher numbers if they want to start being a dominant force again.
Track back more
The second area he said that the team desperately needs to improve in is the distances covered per match, especially when it comes to running back towards their own goal and tracking back during defensive phases.
Addressing it in a rather matter-of-fact manner, he told reporters: “We have to be better at running back, I think that is clear for everybody [to see].” He told Gary Neville something very similar in his other recent interview with Sky Sports.
"This is my place" ❤️
The smile on both Gary Neville and Ruben Amorim's face when the Manchester United head coach said this ☺ pic.twitter.com/dpKnnE69Nm
He said it with a smile on his face but it’s clear that he knows there is a narrative surrounding United in recent years that they just don’t work hard enough, both on and off the ball. Having played mainly in the middle of the park for Belenenses, Benfica and SC Braga, running is a non-negotiable.
Focus on the ‘details’ first
Lastly, Amorim said he believes one of the big things he can do for these players is to help them fine-tune the small things. He added that although there is a feeling that fans want there to be “a lot of change” and pressure to make “big” decisions, he reiterated that “it’s the small things.”
The former utility player knows a thing or two about playing in lots of positions and going back to the opening point of his press conference in which he discussed getting the team to believe in “one thing”, he believes that the minute differences can contribute to changing how they approach the game.
There is understandably lots of talk surrounding his trademark 3-4-3 formation and whether these details refer to tactical tweaks, we will see, but he insists that so long as they put in the effort and pay attention to the little stuff, those on the pitch will start to play in the same way that he wants them to.
You can watch his press conference ahead of the Ipswich away this Sunday in full down below:
Amorim was also happy to casually call out those who ‘don’t believe in’ his new players in his first press conference as Man United coach.
Featured Images — BeanymanSports (via YouTube screenshot)
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Posters around Manchester city centre spark serious rumours Charli XCX is set to headline Parklife 2025
Danny Jones
Some pretty big, green posters are popping up around town and, not to get ahead of ourselves, but it looks like they’re hinting at Charli XCX headlining Parklife 2025…
Feel free to lose your bratting minds.
A number of tall, let’s call it ‘apple’ green posters have been sighted in various places across Manchester city centre this Friday, 22 November and the last time we saw this slightly low-resolution, plain black Arial font and colour combo we got a reworked version of Charli XCX’s brat album.
Listen, all we can tell you is that this is almost exactly the same marketing and the letters on the poster simply read, “PL25”. Come on… you do the math(s).
Spotting at least two of the posters for ourselves around both Newton and Thomas Street in and around the Northern Quarter, plenty of people have been double-taking at the simple but bold and undeniably eye-catching portrait posters.
Trust us, we weren’t the only ones stopping to take a picture and frantically send them to half of our phonebook either.
Charli herself hasn’t given us any other clues on social media thus far – to be fair, this one feels fairly obvious to us – but it’s well worth keeping your eyes peeled on her stories as she did plenty of teasing before dropping Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat.
Still can’t get over that actually being the title, by the way.
It’s also worth noting that Parklife themselves recently confirmed that festival fans can expect to find out their headliners and the full 2025 lineup very soon. Check out that colour…
Oh, who are we kidding? That’s not apple green it’s straight-up BRAT green, b*tch. We’re fully getting carried away and you’ll just have to deal with it.
Even if it somehow turns out she’s not headlining it’s certainly looking like she’s going to be there and it wouldn’t be the first time.
Better yet, fans of the pop sensation won’t have to wait too long to see her right here in Greater Manchester because Charli is bringing her already smash-hit tour to Co-op Live next Wednesday, 27 November and in case you couldn’t tell by all the shouting in capitals, we’re very excited.
Roll on ‘PL25’. Other than Charli XCX, who else would you like to see as your Parklife headliners next summer?
Emily Sergeant -
3rd June 2022 
